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Critical Releases in Homeland Security: November 27, 2013

Every two weeks, the HSDL identifies a brief, targeted collection of recently released documents of particular interest or potential importance. We post the collection on the site and email it to subscribers. Click here to subscribe. (You must have an individual account in order to subscribe.)

"The Privacy Office (Privacy Office or Office) is the first statutorily created privacy office in any federal agency, as set forth in Section 222 of the 'Homeland Security Act' (Homeland Security Act), as amended. The mission of the Privacy Office is to protect all individuals by embedding and enforcing privacy protections and transparency in all DHS activities. The Office accomplishes its mission by focusing on the following core activities: [1] Requiring compliance with federal privacy and disclosure laws and policies in all DHS programs, systems, and operations; [2] Centralizing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act operations to provide policy and programmatic oversight, to support operational implementation within the DHS components, and to ensure the consistent handling of disclosure requests; [3] Providing leadership and guidance to promote a culture of privacy and adherence to the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs) across the Department; [4] Advancing privacy protections throughout the Federal Government through active participation in interagency fora; [5] Conducting outreach to the Department's international partners to promote understanding of the U.S. privacy framework generally and the Department's role in protecting individual privacy; and, [6] Ensuring transparency to the public through published materials, reports, formal notices, public workshops, and meetings. This report, covering the period from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013, catalogues the Privacy Office's continued success in safeguarding individual privacy while supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or Department) mission."

From the thesis abstract: "The United States eventually will face an existential catastrophe. An 'existential catastrophe' would result in cascading effects extending well beyond the physical boundaries of the event. When studying the federal response to major disasters, it is apparent higher levels of presidential interest provide a positive impact on results. The lack of coordination of federal response efforts and the inability of the president to impose his will to marshal fully federal resources effectively were major problems identified after Hurricanes Katrina and Andrew. The inability of the federal government to coordinate the federal response efficiently to a catastrophe appears throughout 60 years of modern federal disaster response. This thesis argues the most efficient way for the president to supervise the federal response to an existential catastrophe is to delegate authority for operational decisions to a single federal official that would allow the president and his cabinet to focus on strategic decisions. The Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, who would be supported by an empowered Emergency Support Function Leadership Group, with authority to direct all agency capabilities released to them by the president and their agencies, would lead the portion of the federal operational response formerly known as consequence management."